SHIELD Helicarrier, Friday

[so_hawkward]

The trip back from Madripoor had been blessedly uneventful, and Clint didn't protest quite as much as usual when he was whisked off to medical. Even after whatever the hell Derek did to him, he was still sore in quite a few places--bulletproof vests were awesome but getting shot point in the chest still sucked a lot--and by the time the nurses were done there wasn't much of Clint not covered in bandages. He needed to buy stock in companies that made gauze one of these days.

But hey, a few cracked ribs and a bruised liver were a small price to pay to get that tape back. Now everything was fine, right? Right.

[And thus ends the flist spam! NFB due to distance! Open for his brave rescuers!]

Comments

[throughaphase]

Kitty wasn't entirely sure how things were going to go here, but when she was allowed to go in and see Clint she wasted no time in doing so. Seeing him get shot had kind of freaked her out a bit. Strange, huh?

"Did the nurses get overzealous?" she greeted him.

She hoped they'd been overzealous.

[so_hawkward]

"Oh, totally. They're very wasteful," Clint insisted, smiling softly at her. "Are you okay?" Because she was totally the one in the bed and all.

[throughaphase]

"Yep," she said with a little smile back as she came to stand next to the bed. "How are you doing? Without saying the word 'fine.'"

[so_hawkward]

"I'm wishing bulletproof vests came with a little more cushioning." He was going to be hiding that bruise on his chest for days. He looked up at her for a moment before turning his focus to his blanket and smoothing out the wrinkles. "If you're going to yell at me, you can just go ahead and get it over with."

[throughaphase]

"I never want to get another message like that again," Kitty said, and she would never say how many times she'd listened to it today. "But I don't know that I feel like yelling."

It'd been a really mentally exhausting week.

[so_hawkward]

"Would it have been better if I didn't leave a message at all?" Clint asked. "I couldn't ask you to come with me, and I had to go. I know it probably doesn't make sense to have all this fuss for a tape but... it was important."

[throughaphase]

"Ask nothing, I'd have just gone." That should not be a surprise, considering that's exactly what she did. "And I know. I saw the tape."

[so_hawkward]

"You watched it?" Why did he have to date someone with curiosity and intelligence? "And you're still sitting here talking to me?"

[throughaphase]

"I've got Questions," she warned. "But I kind of figured if SHIELD called you back for this, it was a SHIELD thing, and I don't know the situation. And 'what was the situation?' is one of those questions I have."

[so_hawkward]

Clint sighed, and became even more engrossed in the blanket. "The guy on the tape was Du Ke Feng, one of the worst international terrorists in the world. The US government decided the only viable option for dealing with him was to take him out, so the president ordered a group of Navy SEALs to go and get him, and they did."

[throughaphase]

Kitty frowned, not remembering any Navy SEALs on the tape. "And you were with them?"

[so_hawkward]

Clint shook his head. "No, I barely even knew it was happening. Way above my clearance," he said. "But for the past few years there's been rumors that there's a mole inside SHIELD, someone selling our secrets and screwing our people over. There's been no good evidence, but the possibility was still out there, and I think Director Fury was worried that the identities of the SEALs would get out. There was a surveillance video of the attack, and he asked for volunteers to make decoys."

Well, Clint had been volunteered, but that was close enough to the same thing.

[throughaphase]

The frown deepened. "So... you didn't kill him? The tape was a fake?"

[so_hawkward]

"Yeah, the tape was a fake," Clint said. "I was told the likelihood of it getting out was small, but I guess that wasn't entirely accurate. Still, it's better than someone getting to the SEALs, so..."

[throughaphase]

Did Kitty look relieved? Because she finally relaxed enough to sit on the edge of the bed now. "That's a good thing you did," she said after a moment. "Covering for them."

[so_hawkward]

Clint shrugged. "What else was I supposed to do? Those guys were just doing their job. They all have wives and kids and people who care about them. They didn't deserve to be in danger."

[throughaphase]

Kitty had a feeling if she pointed out that he had someone who cared about him and he didn't deserve to be in danger, it wouldn't change things much. Which had really been the reason she fell in love with him to begin with. "You're kind of amazing, you know that?"

[so_hawkward]

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," Clint said, glancing up at her. "I wish I could tell you I've never killed anyone, but I can't. I wish I could say they were all terrible people, but I can't. That's not who I am anymore, or at least it's not who I want to be but... I just figure I should be honest with you about that."

[throughaphase]

"Job-related?" she asked. Kitty definitely had her own issues with killing but she also had her reasons for why she couldn't exactly judge, so she figured she might as well just get a better idea of the circumstances.

[so_hawkward]

"Survival-related," Clint said. "Trusting the wrong people because I was a dumbass-related. Part of the enticement of SHIELD was the idea that I could be better than that." He smirked at Kitty. "That's why I'm willing to do stupid stuff like make decoy videotapes, 'cause I owe this place a lot."

[throughaphase]

"And I'd say you're doing a pretty decent job at being better than that," she said with a little smile, finding his hand with hers.

[so_hawkward]

"I'm trying," Clint said genuinely, giving Kitty's hand a squeeze. "I have to admit, I'm glad you showed up. I'm not so glad you brought Derek of all people, but I'm glad you're here and that's not just the concussion talking."

[throughaphase]

"The last time I had a week like this I ended up running off to help someone and got brainwashed. I was not doing anything without backup I knew could handle it." Kitty Pryde: the superhero who learned from past mistakes. "I've got your back."

[so_hawkward]

"You don't need to have my back, you know. I don't want to put you in danger." Someday, he might be able to graciously accept help, but not today.

[throughaphase]

"Welcome to a relationship," Kitty said easily. "Being there for each other comes with the territory. Would you have just let me deal with something like this alone?"